Manaea held out as back flares up
Initial spring start shelved because of familiar injury issue
GOODYEAR, ARIZ. >> Sean Manaea joined Daniel Gossett as A’s pitchers who will have to wait a little longer to make their spring training debut.
Just hours before the A’s took off from their home base in Mesa, Arizona, to Goodyear Ballpark for a game with Cleveland on Tuesday, manager Bob Melvin said Manaea would not be starting as originally planned due to back tightness. Gossett was also scratched from his scheduled appearance this past Sunday with the same ailment.
An issue he dealt with last season, Manaea felt discomfort in his back after playing catch on Monday.
“I really don’t know,” Melvin said when asked about the severity of the injury. “He has dealt with this before. Hopefully it’s not an issue.”
Manaea, 26, is the A’s projected No. 2 starter for the regular season.
Frankie Montas, who was scheduled to pitch in relief, replaced Manaea as Tuesday’s starter. Montas pitched the first two innings of the 16-8 loss, al-
lowing two runs, both coming on a two-run homer, on three hits while striking out one batter.
• The A’s are among four teams being accused by the Major League Baseball Players’ Association of not appropriately spending the revenue-sharing money they receive. The MLBPA filed a grievance against the A’s, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays, Union spokesman Chris Dahl told the Associated Press.
A spokesperson for Major League Baseball confirmed receipt of the complaint, but told the Tampa Bay Times that MLB believes the case “has no merit.”
The A’s released the following statement when asked for comment: “We support Major League Baseball’s statement on the matter.”
The agreement doesn’t allow teams to use any revenue-sharing funds to service debt not related to onfield performance.
Should the Union and MLB not settle the case, the grievance would be heard by independent arbitrator Mark Irvings.
• It was Franklin Barreto’s 22nd birthday on Tuesday. His celebration? Two booming triples to continue what has been an impressive spring at the plate for the club’s top prospect.
Barreto has set a goal to lower his strikeout total of 174 last season between Triple-A and the major leagues. In an effort to reduce those numbers, he’s been using spring training to shorten up his leg kick in two-strike counts. It’s a slight mechanical adjustment, but Barreto believes getting the front leg down earlier will afford him the opportunity to see the ball a little longer and find more contact.
“I’m just trying to recognize better pitches to eliminate those strikeouts on bad pitches from last year,” Barreto said.
Manager Bob Melvin has taken note of Barreto’s hot start to the spring, which also saw him crush a home run against the Padres on Saturday. Making both of Barreto’s stand up triples even more impressive was that they came against right-handed pitchers, including reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber.
“He’s been swinging the bat really well. His batting practice has been really good and he’s been getting good at-bats,” Melvin said. “Tough righty-on-right matchups with Kluber and Goody. Pretty good day for him.”
• Yusmeiro Petit made his first appearance of the Cactus League for the A’s, giving up a run on one hit, which was a home run to Jason Kipnis, and one strikeout in an inning of work.
The home run seemed to be aided on what was a windy day at Goodyear Ballpark.
The ball appeared headed for the seats in left field for a foul ball before wrapping back around just to the right side of the foul pole.
Entering his 11th season in the big leagues, Petit is in a different situation than most pitchers on the A’s roster. With his standing in the bullpen already established, Petit is using the early part of spring as a way to fine tune his command. Aside from the odd home run by Kipnis, Petit was pleased with the location of his pitches in his first spring outing.
“Location is really important,” Petit said. “I failed on one pitch and they made me pay for it.”
With the ability to throw several innings out of the bullpen if need be, Petit said he expects Melvin to increase his inning workload at some point this spring.
“They know I worked multiple innings a lot last season and from what I see, the thinking is for me build up my innings and get that rhythm.”